Coil winding apparatus



May 23, 1939. P. K. RANNEY 2,159,535

COIL WINDING APPARATUS. l

Fil-ed June 23, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l /0 INVENTOR.

BY Heze/ML /C FHA/Nar wz/ vea/ ATTORNEYS May 23, 1939. P. K. RANNEY.

COIL WINDING APPARATUS Filed June 23, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BY .Phrea/VAL K H/y/Yfy/ a 474./- /f/a/ fa/w ATTORNEYS Erg'. Z

UNITED STATES I 1PA-TENT OFFICE con. wnmnvc APPARATUS Percival Ranney, Lakewood, Ohio` Application June 23, 1937, serial No. 149,835

` f 9 claims. (ci. l242-25) y inventionrelates to coil winding machines the wires `and without winding the coils uneven- "l and particularly-to those which are used to wind ly. Moreover, the necessity for individual ten. insulated layer coilsfhaving many turns of ilne sion regulation of the various wires and the nef- .giwirel "Thistype `of coilis used in the secondary cessity for frequent stoppages to replenish a deofjthe1ignition`coi1s "or transformers `having a pleted spool, have been decidedly uneconomicai 5 "relatively high secondary voltage with relatively factors of coil winding. I :smallysecondary licurrents.. Gas or oil ignition` An object Vof my invention therefore is to pro-` coilsandtransformers `for the energizing of `gasduce a system of winding coils in multiple upon eousltubes and ignition devices for oil burners a mandrel by means of which all of the coils may vloutilize coils of thisl nature. The invention is parbe wound uniformly at high speed with quick 10* `ticularly adapted in any instance where it is destarting and stopping of the mandrel and with l sirabllto wind insulated layer coils in multiple. less `stoppages than heretofore required. FurlI-Ieretofore the practice of winding `such 'coils in thermore my invention includes a method where- .l lmultiple hasincluded a! mandrel on1-which two by individual wire tensioning is eliminated and' l-iliorfmore coils have been wound in spaced relawhereby the supply spools have materially great- 15 ti'onship Thefinsulated wire for each coil has er capacity than heretofore has' been considered been suppliedfrom a` spool and each wire has had practical. `@an adjustable tensiondevice for the purpose of An advantage of my invention is the fact that y windingthe coils identically. The independent coils may bc wound in multiple upon a mandrel ,um Qregulation of eachtension device howeverhas rewithout the need for skillful training and with- I` fquired considerable skill'by the operator and has out wrinkling the insulating paper as a result of `beenunsatisfactory because it required too fre'- non-uniformity in tension of the various` wires. y. quentl "attention to maintain uniform tension on A further advantage is the fact that a far greater j `lthefwire. The "tension on the wires varies chiey number of coils may be obtained with less stopf as afresult of the variating momentum of the ropages of themachine, thereby resulting in a bet- Y ,"@tating spools, and the variationsin tension thereter product and at less cost. l "fore causes some coils to be wound tighter than Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1` is a top l vothersgy This, in turn, wrinkles the `paper that plan view of a coil winding machine embodying `:isnsedior insulating the layersfrom eachother. my invention and Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sec- .130 If any wrinkling occurs, its presence is amplified tions taken on the planes indicated by the lines as succeedinglayersof wire and paperare wound 2--2 and 3-3 in Fig. 1. I l around the mandrel so that the nishedcoils are In the drawings, Ill indicates the standard of I `nt`in as perfect condition as couldbe desired. a machine which supports a live spindle Il, and I l "`The-spools of wire heretofore used have been a tail spindle I2, between which a mandrel I3 is `alsrnounted upon horizontal spindles but I have mounted for rotation. The live spindle may be ffound that such mounting limits the spool ca- 'driven byany suitable source of power, such as pacity to a few pounds of wire because of the an electrical motor, which is indicated in general [problem of braking the momentum which the at I4. The mandrel has a length of suilicient spool possesses while in rotation during the stopsize to receive the desired number of coils I5, 40`.pingoperation, and because of the problem of which are wound thereon in spaced relationship, 40 I starting a heavy spool without breaking the fine it being understood that at the completion of the l wire.;` The fact,` therefore, that each spool can winding operation, the mandrel is removed and contain" only a few pounds of wire has necessitatthe layers of insulating paper are separated I ed` `many stoppages for replenishment during transversely between the coils, whereby the coils ",415E eaclifwindingl of the coils and at each stoppage may be thereafter handled as individual units. `;thereis the danger of varying the tension, be- 'I'he wire for making each coil is indicated at cause some spools being fuller than others, will I6 as being supplied by spools I1 that rest upon 1; possess `greater momentum and hence will not the floor or other supporting surface atthe rear l tendtofstop, as quickly as others. A of the machine. The spools are non-rotatably i 1 of the foregoing considerations `have matesupported and so the `wire may be taken olf the 50 rially limited the speed of starting and stopping vupper end and led over a suitable guide and conf y the mandrel and also the number of coils which trol device as will hereinafter-be described, to the can bejmade thereon and have necessitated thc mandrel. By utilizing non-rotating spools, the i `painstaking development of skilled operators who capacity can be greatly increased over that here- I can start and stop a `machine without breaking tofore used and the objection incident to the mo- 20 ance with the desired speed of the mandrel on mentum of the rotating spool is thereby avoided whenever the' machine is stopped. Additionally. by increasing the capacity of each spool a larger number of coils can be wound before itis necessary to replenish any spool.

To insure uniformity of movement of all of the lwires and to limit thenecessity for constant manipulation. of individualtensioning devices, I utilize a roller 20 around which all of the wires pass after they leave the spools and before they are wound upon the mandrel. Each wire, may be wound one or moretimes around the roller or may contact only afpartv of it, but in eachinstance suilicient4 contact is made to assure adequate traction therewith. The wire engaging surface of the roller preferably comprises rubber, or other elastic material, which aids in preventing slippage between the roller and the wires. Rotation of the roller is governed by a braking arrangement which can be adjusted in accordwhich the coils are being wound. The roller is shown as being journalled in brackets 24 which extend'upwardly at the rear of the machine.

Each wire, as it passes around the roller 20, preferably extends over a guide roller 2E, and thence between spaced guide pins 31 before it contacts the mandrel. The roller 26 may be journalled at 21 in arms 28, which in turn, are pivoted at v29 in brackets 24 and are .Connected together by a brace 9. The arms are thereby adapted to be oscillated, and are shown in two positions by the full and broken lines 28 and 28-a respectively in Fig. 2. The oscillating action is a result of a balancing of forces that are exerted upon the arms by the rotating mandrel and by a spring 4I. Normally, when the machine is stopped, the arm occupies the position shown at 2li-a, but while the machine is in operation, the increased tension on the wires, as a result of the mandrel rotation, overcomes the tension of the spring 4| and moves the arms to f the full line position, as shown in Fig. 2. The yieldable characteristic of the arms thereby minimizes any possibility of breaking of the wires at .the time'of starting the machine.

The spacing of the wires upon the mandrel is controlled by the guide pins 31 which project upwardly from a bar 35 that is adapted to be reciprocated by any suitable mechanism under the control of the motor I4. At the end of each stroke of the bar 35, a sheet of insulating paper is fed onto the wires either by hand or by a feeding device (not, shown) and is carried by them around the mandrel, as a result of which each layer is insulated from the adjacent layer.

To permit variation in the tension that is exerted by the spring 4| upon the bars 28, I have shown one end of the spring as being anchored at 43 to the frame and the other end as being attached to the arm 28 at 42. The tension on the spring may be adjusted by varying the lengthv of the cord or cable 45 which extends between the spring and the point of connection 42. The action of the spring 4I therefore is to urge the arms 28 to the broken line position 28.-a. andf thereby to maintain in taut condition that portion of each wire in the form of a4 bight or shed between the roller 20 and the mandrel.

Whenever the machine is started from a condition of rest, the starting torque exerts tension of sufficient force on the wires to overcome the tension of the spring 4I, and as a result, the

- sheave bar 21 is lowered as shown in the full line drel increases, the tensionon the wires gradually diminishes until an equilibrium is reached between the wire tension and the tension of the spring 4|. During such movement, all of the wires will be paid out at precisely the same speed because of the snubbing action of the roll 20 upon the wires, and inasmuch as the wires are prevented from slipping around the roll, it is obvious that no one wire can possibly be fed to the mandrel at a. rate which is different from that of any other wire.

`To maintain .the Wires in taut condition, I utilize a tension device 50 which is associated with each spool and which places only a slight tension on the wire so as to make it unwind from the spool`in orderly fashion and to assure simultaneous movement of the roller 29 and the mandrel. I utilize a retarding device that acts constantly on the roller to prevent overrunning whenever the mandrel is stopped, and that permits relatively free rotation of the mandrel -at the time'of starting.

In the preferred arrangement,l the retarding device comprises two brakes, one of which acts constantly upon the roller 28, and the other of which acts intermittently upon the roller. The constantly operating brake is disposedat one end of the roller, while the intermittently operating brake is disposed adjacent the other end of the roller. Theintermittent brake -is arranged to engage the roller and to stop rotation thereof whenever the arms 28 occupy the broken line position 28-a on Fig. 2, i. e., whenever the mandrel is stopped. The intermittent brake, however, is adapted automatically to be released, as soon as the mandrel is rotated, and the tension exerted thereby upon the wires is sufficient t swing the bars 28 to the full line position shown in Fig. 2. The automatic setting and releasing of the intermittent brake is eected solely by movement of vthe arms, and this may be accomplished by employing a brake band 5| which extends around a'brake drum 52 o n the roller, and which is attached at its ends to pins that project from the arms. One of the pins comprises one of the pivot pins 29, and the other a pin 53, which is. carried by one of the arms between the pivot 29 and the guide roller 26. The arrangement shown is such that when the arms 28 are in the full line position in Fig. 2 the brake is released, but as the arms are moved to the broken line position 28-a, the band is tightened, and a. retarding force is thereby applied to the roller. This retarding forcev is suillcient to assure substantially simultaneous stopping of rotation of the mandrel and roller.

I prefer to utilize a constantly acting brake for the purpose of mantaining a predetermined tension upon the wires along that portion which extends between the roller and the mandrel. Accordingly, I utilize a band 60, which extends around a drum 6| and which has one end thereof attached to one of the pivot pins 29, and the 1other end to a spring 64, the tension of which can be adjusted by a bolt 62 which extends through a threaded swivel block 63 on the army 28. The swivel block is disposed between the pivot 29 and the roller 26. The operation of the braking system which I have disclosed makes it unnecessary for the operator to exercise caution either in starting or in stopping the machine.

An advantage of the present invention is the fact that I have entirely eliminated the most serious objection to multiple coil winding machines, in that I have obtained absolute unii causethe vroller acts as a metering device to allow only th'e same length of wire toV pass to all of the coils. Consequent1y,'if one coil starts to increase in size, then it automatically get tighter until it gets back to normal. In' this way,

` wrinkling of the insulating sheet is avoided and the resulting product is kept uniform in size and quality. Furthermore, the number of coils'which can be wound in a given length of time is very materially increased.

I claim:

1. In a coil winding machine, the combination of a rotatable coil support, a plurality of sources of wire supply, a roller engaging all of the wires. braking devices acting on said roller, one being intermittently and the other being'continuously operating, and means yieldably engaging the wires for actuating the `braking devices.

2. In a coil winding machine, the combination of a support upon which a plurality of coils of wire is adapted to be wound, means for rotating the support, a source of wire supply for the coils, a movable restrictive device commento and acting upon more than one wire, a movable guide interposed between said device and the support, and engaging more than one wire, means yieldably acting upon the guide to maintain the wires in taut condition, abrake acting upon the restrictive device for retarding the movement of it whenever the rotating means is stopped and means for automatically diminishing the force' of the brake when'the rotating means is started. 3. In'a coil winding machine, the combination of a support upon which a plurality of coilsV of wire is adapted to be wound, means for rotating the support, a stationary source of wire sup- Jply for each coil, means for guiding all of said wires so'` as to form a shed, means common to all of the wires for engaging and retarding them, said means being movable vby the wires, a brake acting on said means and mechanism for automatically applying the brake when the rotating means is stopped and-for automatically releasing the brake when the rotating means is to the axis of the support and engaging the wires for maintaining equality in the speed of the wires, means common to all of the wires for holding them in a bight between the roller and 1 the support, said means being movable to compensate for variations in stresses that are exerted upon the wires when the machine is started or stopped, and a brake controlled oy said means and acting on said roller.

5. In a coil winding machine, the combination of a mandrel upon which a plurality of coils is adapted to be wound in spaced relationship, a

. source of wire supply for each coil, means common to all of the wires for exerting a`restraining force against the movement thereof, a member common to all of the wires for holding them by movement of said member.

6. In a coil winding machine, the combination of a mandrel upon which a plurality of coils 1s adapted to be wound, a source of wire supply for each coil, a member common toall of such wires for engaging and retarding them, said member being movable by the wires, a brake acting upon the member, and means engaging all of the wires between the member and mandrel for automatically actuating the brake upon starting or stopping of .the mandrel.

7. In a coil winding machine, the combination with. a mandrel upon which a plurality of coils is adapted to be wound, a, source of supply for each coil, a roller common to and engaging the wires and presenting a non-slipping surface thereto, a yieldable tension device acting on each wire between the roller and the mandrel, and a brake operating upon the roller and actuated by the yieldable tension device.

8. A method oi' winding a plurality of coils simultaneously upon a mandrel, comprising taking wires from a source of supply, extending them to spaced points on the mandrel, engaging all of the wires simultaneously and imparting a variable restraining force thereto, the variable restraining force being. governed by the average tension ofthe wires leading `to the mandrel.

A 9. In a coil winding machine, the combination ofa support upon which a plurality of coils of wire maybe wound, means for rotating the support, a' source ofwire supply for each coil, means for guiding all of said wires so as to form a shed, means movable by the wires and common to all'od them for engaging and retarding them,

a brake acting on said means and mechanism for automatically actuating the brake upon starting rotating means. 

